Application Of Exploratory Testing Methods In Online Game Software Test

Online game test is an important part of game software development process. It is also an important means to guarantee game software quality. Exploratory testing is a special software testing method. It has the characteristics of rapid testing, free testing, quick verification and its test design can be readily adjusted. It is suiTable for application in these types of software project that test requirements change quickly, they cannot design the specific testing process in advance and they require a lot of manual testing. Application of exploratory testing methods can significantly improve efficiency of online game test.In online game test, because the content that needs to be tested are always too much, that easily leads to the testing process is not complete and the quality of final released game version is not satisfactory. Because test requirements change quickly and test execution is always required to complete in a short time, the testing is always executed in no definite plan and no detailed design. That will lead to miss some important issues. Online game test needs to apply some testing methods that match it. And these methods can optimize testing process and improve testing efficiency.Based on the existing process of online game test, this thesis studied the process and methods about exploratory testing. And we designed some specific exploratory testing methods that can be applied in online game test. These methods can optimize testing process, improve test coverage and defect repair rate. Meanwhile, they can make testing become faster and more efficient. These work solve the existing problems of online game test and reflect the value of exploratory testing. The main contributions of this thesis are as follows:1. Summarized the basic process of online game test and analyzed the existing problems and solution.2. Optimize exploratory testing process and design exploratory testing methods for online game test. In two stages of the game development and operation, exploratory testing process is efficient and more convenient to execute testing than basic process.3. Design eight kinds of exploratory testing methods that can be used in the online game test. The stage, scope and methods of exploratory testing application are explained in detail.4. Present a definite testing evaluation standard. We can review the situation of test execution and evaluate the quality of game version by analyzing the statistics data of test coverage and defect repair rate.In two actual online game projects, we applied exploratory testing methods. This thesis analyzes test data and test result. Through comparing test coverage and defect repair rate with change of before and after application, we discover that test coverage and defect repair rate have been significantly improved, especially in game operation stage, released game version has even zero defect. That verifies exploratory testing methods can optimize testing process and improve testing efficiency.